Flight timings and cancellations are displayed on the departures board, a month into the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., November 9, 2025.
Annabelle Gordon | Reuters
Flight cancellations were again piling up on Monday as air traffic controller shortages, worsened by the longest-ever U.S. government shutdown, snarled air travel coast to coast and President Donald Trump threatened to dock air traffic controllers’ pay if they are absent from work.
On Monday, 1,432 of the 25,733 scheduled flights across the country were canceled, around 5.5% “and growing,” according to aviation data firm Cirium.
Last week, the Trump administration ordered airlines to cut flights at 40 major U.S. airports starting with 4% reductions last Friday and ramping up to 10% by this coming Friday, Nov. 14.
“All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!!,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding that he would recommend $10,000 bonuses for any air traffic controllers who didn’t take any time off during the shutdown. He said those who don’t immediately return to work would be “docked.”
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, their union, didn’t immediately respond to Trump’s comments on Monday.
Disruptions over the weekend totaled 18,576 flights delayed and 4,519 canceled, according to FlightAware. Cancellations spilled over from regional, short-haul jets — which the largest U.S. airlines rely on for around half of domestic flights — to mainline flying.
United Airlines and Delta Air Lines were each offering flight attendants extra pay to pick up flights, according to company messages seen by CNBC. Such extra pay is common during storms or other disruptions. The airlines didn’t immediately comment.
A sign of how severe air travel disruptions have become during the government shutdown: Sunday’s 2,631 U.S. flight cancellations, 10% of the day’s schedule, marked the fourth-worst day since January 2024, Cirium said.
In comparison, on Friday morning, as Trump administration-mandated flight cuts took effect, cancellations ranked 72nd since the start of last year.
The disruptions that upended the travel plans for hundreds of thousands of travelers forced them to look for alternative transportation. Car rental company Hertz last week reported an increase in one-way demand. There’s also been increased demand for private jet flights in recent days, according to the CEO of charter and fractional ownership company Flexjet.
Though the Trump administration order didn’t initially require private aviation to cut in the same way as commercial airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday began limiting those flights at a dozen U.S. airports. However, many private jet operators don’t use the busiest commercial airports, said the National Business Aviation Association.
Increased strain
Air traffic controllers missed their second paycheck of the shutdown on Monday, though they are still required to work. Some of them have taken second jobs to make ends meet, government and union officials have said.
“Now, they must focus on child care instead of traffic flows. Food for their families instead of runway separation,” Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said at a news conference on Monday. “The added stress leads to fatigue, the fatigue has led to the erosion of safety and the increased risk every day that this shutdown drags on.”
The Senate made progress overnight on a deal that could end the shutdown, but it has not yet approved a funding bill.
Daniels said it isn’t yet clear how long it would take for controllers to receive back pay for their work. In the shutdown that ended in 2019, it took about 2½ months before the workers were made whole, he said.
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